John D. Butler, San Diego’s first native-son mayor, had an impressive résumé by the time he was 35. He had been a football star at San Diego State College, a World War II Navy aviator and a Stanford Law School graduate, and had opened his own downtown law practice after serving as a deputy district attorney.

Although he had never sought public office before he ran for mayor, he was elected several months before his 36th birthday, Mr. Butler would later say he ran for mayor on a whim, but his candidacy struck a chord with San Diegans, who elected him to serve from 1951 to 1955, making him one of the youngest mayors of a major U.S. city.

Mr. Butler died of natural causes Tuesday in San Diego. He was 94.

When he decided to seek office in 1951, he campaigned as “just an average guy seeking the votes of other average people.” After he was elected, he rubbed shoulders with such political luminaries as President Dwight Eisenhower, then-Vice President Richard Nixon and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Longtime friend Malin Burnham said he always called Mr. Butler “Mayor” in recognition of his one-term tenure more than half a century ago. “He was an extremely positive, thoughtful, multitalented person,” Burnham said, citing his friend’s political leadership, successful law practice and piloting skills.

Mr. Butler, who was a bachelor when elected, married and had a son while in office. He chose not to seek re-election after four years because the pay was too low, he said in a 1998 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. He credited his victory to a televised candidates forum in which his youthful charisma proved an advantage over his older competitors.

He dealt with growth issues during his term in office, including the development of Mission Bay and the implementation of the one-way-street system downtown. In one of his first public addresses as mayor, Mr. Butler urged residents to conserve water.

He had a lifelong love of and concern for San Diego. “He was very proud of San Diego and was very much a hometown boy,” said his wife of 48 years, Virginia “Kirk” Butler.

John David Butler was born Aug. 4, 1915, in San Diego to John and Adeline Lagomarsino Butler. His father died when he was 10. He graduated from St. Augustine High School and majored in economics at what was then San Diego State College.

He was one of the first local college athletes to receive national recognition when he became the first Little All-American in the school’s history. He was among the players of the 1930s era who played both offense and defense. He was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame at Balboa Park’s Hall of Champions in 1984.

He did graduate study at the University of California Berkeley and spent two years at Bakersfield High School as a teacher and football coach. He learned to fly, got his private pilot’s license and enlisted in the Navy in 1941. He was stationed in the South Pacific as a dive bomber. He pursued his love of flying in later years and often flew friends and clients in his plane.